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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568869">Return of the New Gods</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollowed_Ground/pseuds/Hollowed%20Ground'>Hollowed Ground (Hollowed_Ground)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Anakin Skywalker doesn't Fall, Anakin is The Father, Canon-Typical Violence, Chosen Ones, Dark is not Evil, F/M, Force-sensitive wizards, Gen, Leia is The Son, Luke is The Daughter, Minor Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker, Molly Weasley's A+ parenting, Molly means well, Mortis (Star Wars), Mortis works a bit different here, Padmé Amidala Lives, Satine Kryze Lives, Skywalker Family Drama, Star Wars-focus, The Jedi Order Survives, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Voldemort has no idea what's coming at him, Warning: Neglect, and the galaxy only has The Force, and the new one, but Earth only has magic, canon ships, fun with prophecies, god-mode Leia, god-mode Luke, literal double life, magic and The Force coexist in an individual, mentions of Leia Organa/Han Solo - Freeform, namely: Force Gods is a role, not even all canon ships, overpowered Ron, time is Luke and Leia's personal sandbox, time travelers remember previous timelines, way too many timelines</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:14:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,435</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568869</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollowed_Ground/pseuds/Hollowed%20Ground</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to a fluke in the nature of reality, the boy we know as "Ron Weasley" is born in two different times and two different places at the same time, and spends his life alternating between living those two lives.<br/>In the galaxy where he is named "Aishi-Ron Kryze", he is unbound in time due to having neither a fixed time nor place to belong to, and he spends his childhood appearing in strange times and places.  It is here that he meets the boy who calls himself "The Daughter", and the girl who calls herself "The Son", and together they set out to fix the past to create a better future.  (The Son is not always on board with this, and sometimes tries to stop them.)<br/>In the world known as Earth, he is Ronald Weasley, overlooked and underappreciated youngest son of six, seemingly destined for a life of mediocrity, until he befriends Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and is drawn more directly into an epic battle between good and evil.</p>
<p>updates sporadic—sorry!  I haven't written the whole thing yet!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ahsoka Tano &amp; Ron Weasley, Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker &amp; Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ron Weasley, Cody &amp; Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ginny Weasley &amp; Ron Weasley, Harry Potter &amp; Ron Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Leia Organa &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Leia Organa &amp; Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa &amp; Ron Weasley, Luke Skywalker &amp; Ron Weasley, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ron Weasley, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Ron &amp; Cody, Ron Weasley &amp; Hermione Granger, Satine Kryze &amp; Ron Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The First Meeting That Never Was</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/8911009">The Exchange</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissLearn/pseuds/MissLearn">MissLearn</a>.
        </li>
        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/703576">Turns of Fate</a> by Rosabell.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Okay!  Hi, everyone!<br/>This will be set, for the most part, in the present tense for the Star Wars sections, and in the past tense for the Harry Potter ones.  After all, there's so much time travel in the Star Wars parts that telling past from present from future gets a bit tricky.  So, yeah.<br/>And, I know it's tagged "Anakin doesn't Fall", but he's Fallen in most of the first few Star Wars scenes.  And Padmé and/or Satine are dead in a lot of the early scenes.  Sorry!  It ends up never happening, I promise!<br/>If you really want to know the backstory of how I came up with this, I guess I'll tell you, but it's kind of embarrassing.</p>
<p>I'm trying something new here.  I've noticed that leaving out commas makes everything seem sort of urgent and stuff, so: me, now with ninety percent fewer commas!<br/>Wonder if I can keep it up?<br/>Okay!  Run-on sentence time!</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The title pretty much says it all.  When he's four, Ron meets The Daughter and The Son.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>The first time Ron meets the Daughter (or The Son, for that matter) ends up never happening, but it is the first time he ever time-travels, and the pact they make holds, so it's worth telling, anyway.</p>
<p>One moment, he is hurrying back to his bed after brushing his teeth, lest he get in trouble from the people at the Galactic Concerned Citizens Children's Home, and then he is falling sideways onto something dusty, dry, and hot. He is only four years old, and doesn't have much time to spend on anything other than whether or not he's torn his clothes (or his skin, worse) when a strange, unfamiliar sound makes him look up and over at a flurry of sparks flying off two glowing rods. It is pretty, he decides, but scary and best observed from a distance.</p>
<p>But, there is no cover to be had. All around him is bright burning heat and dusty rock. He doesn't even know where it is safe to walk. He pushes himself to his feet, or tries to, and burns his hands.</p>
<p>"Here, let me help you," a kindly voice offers, holding out a hand to help him up. He notices the callouses of the hand first, because the hand is closest, and then looks up at a boy who looks to be a few years older than Ron is, himself. He has the gentlest, kindest smile, and the brightest blue eyes. Ron is not sure the boy is entirely human. He is wearing dingy, drab white clothes, and has longish blond hair, and quite a few strands of something green and growing wrapped all up and down his right arm. Ivy, maybe?</p>
<p>He takes the hand, dubious and mistrusting, because this is a stranger, and the matron says not to talk to strangers. They could kidnap you.</p>
<p>"You look lost," the boy says, pulling Ron to his feet. "How'd you get to be here, anyway?"</p>
<p>Ron knows he isn't supposed to, but he puts a thumb in his mouth to suck on it. He can surely be forgiven. The ground is <em>hot.</em></p>
<p>He remembers the sparks and flashing light, and looks up and over to the source, only to find that everything has frozen in place—even the sparks. He can look without worrying about anyone catching him.</p>
<p>Two strange men hold long beams of light, currently crossed against each other. One of them wears pale robes like the boy. The other wears dark robes, almost black. One has reddish hair, like Ron's. The other dirty blond hair, like dark gold. That one has eyes an unnatural gleaming gold, his face twisted in a terrifying snarl that Ron instinctively draws back from. The other seems safer, but with such a look of sorrow and pain on his face that Ron has to look away from him, too.</p>
<p>Ron turns back to the boy, instead, and remembers he'd asked a question. Matron says he is <em>rude</em> when he doesn't answer questions, but he also isn't to talk to strangers.</p>
<p>The boy can't be too dangerous, though. He looks only a few years older than Ron.</p>
<p>"You're giving me that look, like this is all new and too much for you," the blond boy says, with a sigh and a frown. "Here."</p>
<p>He unwraps a strand of ivy from around his arm, and winds it around Ron's. His mind seems to clear. Thoughts come easier, and understanding. He feels, instinctively, that he can trust the boy.</p>
<p>"Dunno," he says, removing his thumb from his mouth, briefly, to squint sideways at the older boy. "I was going to bed, and then I was here."</p>
<p>"You must have some sort of connection with them, then," the boy says, turning to point at the two men. They are fighting, Ron realises. They are being violent, and bad, and trying to hurt one another. He can't understand why.</p>
<p>"I reached out to try to find someone who could help me figure out what's going on. Maybe that's you," Ron's companion continues. "Say, what's your name?"</p>
<p>Ron hesitates only a moment. "Aishi-Ron," he says. Straining, he thinks he remembers a family name. "Aishi-Ron Kryze," he amends.</p>
<p>His companion's eyes widen. "<em>Kryze</em>?" he asks. "I don't see what that—"</p>
<p>He visibly comes to a realisation. "Oh. <em>Oh</em>. Then—then that's your <em>dad</em>," he says, gazing wistfully over at the two figures frozen in time.</p>
<p>"My dad?" Ron repeats. He is at a complete loss. He has a dad, sometimes. But, he knows what he looks like, and it isn't anything like either of those two men. Dad is kind of short and squat, with bright red hair and glasses, and bags under his eyes 'cause he is always tired and his boss doesn't appreciate him.</p>
<p>Then again, Ron is here, in the middle of a molten wasteland, and he'd just been at the children's home before that. Sometimes, he's tried to tell adults about his mum and dad, but they accuse him of making up stories, and insist that magic doesn't exist. His dad doesn't seem to exist. It is confusing.</p>
<p>"Obi-wan Kenobi," the boy says, in a mournful tone. "I know him as Ben, the mad old hermit who lives in the Jundland Wastes. I think he's got a good reason to be crazy, but I don't think he is. And, he's fighting <em>my</em> dad. This must be just after he Fell."</p>
<p>People mention that they'd had fathers, killed in the war, and mothers. Ron has a subliminal sense, sometimes, that he is one of those. The man with reddish hair must be the dad whom he'd lost. Except…if the other boy is right, he didn't die at all. Why would he have abandoned Ron?</p>
<p>"Whaddaya mean, 'Fell'?" Ron asks. There is clearly a capital letter there.</p>
<p>"He turned to The Dark Side," the other says, as if that explains anything. "Come on, I'll need your help if I'm gonna figure out what went wrong, so we can fix it."</p>
<p>At a loss, Ron follows the boy across the suddenly non-blisteringly hot lava over to where the two figures still stand, stock still.</p>
<p>"I can restart time, see if we get any hints. I'll pull you sideways, out of step with time. They won't see you. In time, you'll learn to do it on your own."</p>
<p>Before Ron can ask what he means, time restarts. The urge to hide is overpowering, but the other boy sits on the non-hot molten rock and watches. He is in plain view, and neither combatant notices him. Ron sits next to him, and they watch.</p>
<p>It is a violent scene, not fit for someone of Ron's age. He knows the matron would disapprove, even though most of her children are war orphans who have witnessed some pretty gruesome things themselves.</p>
<p>They duel across a fiery arena of molten rock. Ron hears the man who is supposedly his father claim that the other man was supposed to be some sort of Chosen One, and destroy something called "the Sith". Then, he cuts off Ron's companion's father's limbs. And, leaves him to burn on the banks of a river of fire, walking away claiming to love him.</p>
<p>Ron decides that his family is pretty messed up, if his uncle is some sort of gold-eyed maniac and his own father cut off his uncle's limbs.</p>
<p>"Did you get anything from that?" Ron asks.</p>
<p>The other boy huffs. "<em>No</em>. At least, not much. I'll have to rewind time and see what happened before the duel. Only, I'm not quite sure how. You can help me focus. Just think hard about what you want, and reach out to The Force."</p>
<p>"The what?" Ron asks, and his newfound cousin closes his eyes.</p>
<p>"That's right. You won't have heard of it. I haven't heard of it, either. I'll just—guide you through this."</p>
<p>He becomes aware of a tugging sensation somewhere not on his body—in his mind?— and reaches out not with his hands, and pulls along with whatever it is, hoping it is his cousin.</p>
<p>His uncle's limbs reattach themselves and he flies back down to his lower platform. There is no sound, but the scene continues to rewind, pulling the two of them along without having to walk, following their fathers' steps, until they meet up with a spaceship, and "Obi-wan Kenobi" seems to sheathe his glowstick (in reality he is drawing it, in reverse).</p>
<p>"Maybe we can prevent their duel," Ron's cousin whispers unnecessarily.</p>
<p>"You can't change the past," Ron quotes sagaciously. His cousin quirks an eyebrow.</p>
<p>"Can't you? I'm going to try."</p>
<p>He continues to unspin time, just to have more context, until the spaceship takes off. Then, he makes a motion with his hand, and the pulling stops. Ron had ceased to notice it, at some point.</p>
<p>The spaceship seems to change its mind, heading back down to the surface again. A beautiful woman with long, curly brown hair, in an elaborate gown, steps off, coming down the ramp, and Ron's uncle comes and embraces her.</p>
<p>Ron thinks this seems like the sort of private conversation that children shouldn't eavesdrop on, and opens his mouth and turns to tell his cousin so, but then he notices the way the other boy is drinking the conversation in, drinking <em>everything</em> in, as if to memorise every detail about his parents. Ron understands that, sort of. But, he tries to tune out their conversation. It is too shameful to do otherwise.</p>
<p>He has no warning, therefore, when his father comes down the ramp, and then suddenly everything seems to change, and the universe darkens, and his uncle reaches out a hand at the woman, and she begins to choke. This is definitely not something a child should watch.</p>
<p>To make things worse, his idiot cousin seems to decide that this is his cue to try to stop things, rushing over to separate the two, crying, "No, stop! Don't hurt her, Father!"</p>
<p>And, apparently he's forgotten that he'd moved them out of step with time, or whatever.</p>
<p>Dad draws his weapon, and orders "Anakin" to release "Padmé", and the woman crumples to the ground.</p>
<p>"Maybe I can heal her—" Ron's cousin begins, seeming to realise that his attempts to stop the duel will do no good. Not that it matters, because just then, a girl appears by the spaceship, standing between Ron's cousin and his mother.</p>
<p>She seems to be about Ron's cousin's age, with long brown hair wound up in a coronet, and wearing a white dress, and the same golden eyes as their father. There is something dark and frightening about her, more than just the snarl on her face. Ron gulps, and reconsiders going over to ask how he can help heal his aunt.</p>
<p>"Oh, no! Stay back, Aishi-Ron," the boy says, going pale. "It's my sister. She's The Son—the Dark Side of the Force personified." Ron would have thought that he said "the sun", if the boy didn't continue. "I'm The Daughter. The Light Side of the Force personified. We're equals in power. She can't hurt me. Let me handle her. Stay over there."</p>
<p>"Wait, no, let me help you!" Ron cries, stumbling to follow his cousin ("The Daughter") as he spreads great white wings and soars over to land before the spaceship.</p>
<p>"Go away! You are not welcome here," The Son cries, in a discordant, sibilant voice. Ron shudders as he picks a haphazard way toward the confrontation. "You may not interfere. Father made his choice, and if it is not to your liking, you must still leave him to it. It is in his nature to be the Balance."</p>
<p>"This wasn't supposed to happen!" The Daughter protests. "He wasn't supposed to <em>Fall</em>. There was plenty of darkness for you before he Fell, and Palpatine rose to power. Now, there is almost no light left to <em>me</em>. There will always be darkness in the galaxy, but now it overwhelms everything, and threatens to destroy us all. And our mother! What of our mother?"</p>
<p>It might be a trick of the light about the lava, but Ron thinks The Son's eyes flicker for a moment towards a more human colouring. She hesitates, looking back and forth between The Daughter, and the woman who must be their mother.</p>
<p>"Don't you even want to just save <em>her</em>? Isn't it in the nature of The Dark to defy death? Help me heal her, Sister, please."</p>
<p>The Son sighs and The Daughter folds his wings until they disappear, kneeling down by Ron's aunt's side. The Son joins him in the pose as they stretch out their hands.</p>
<p>"It's nothing major—she should have survived this," The Son says, with a puzzled frown. She doesn't sound overtly hostile, so Ron dares to creep closer.</p>
<p>"We haven't been born, yet, either. I can feel our lives, still inside her," The Daughter says, looking up, and then turning to face Ron.</p>
<p>"Who is <em>that</em>?" The Son demands, whirling to face Ron, her attention fixed on him for the first time.</p>
<p>"I-I-I'm your-your c-cousin," Ron stammers. "Ron."</p>
<p>Her eyes narrow at him. He expects a forked tongue to flick around her lips, but it doesn't.</p>
<p>"Not Uncle Owen's," The Daughter clarifies, glancing over at his sister. "Ben's son."</p>
<p>"And, I suppose you want to save your parents, too," The Son snaps, placing her hands on her hips.</p>
<p>Ron blinks, because this possibility has never occurred to him. It hasn't had the chance. Besides, his dad lived…didn't he?</p>
<p>"Is it possible?" he asks hopefully.</p>
<p>The Son snorts. "Who knows?" she says in return. "But, since you're family…<em>maybe</em> we could try."</p>
<p>She sounds as if she is making a huge concession to him, even though the lives of two people can't be that big a deal in the broader scheme of things.</p>
<p>The Son holds out a pale white hand, and The Daughter takes it in his tanned one.</p>
<p>"Are you coming?" The Son snaps, and Ron flinches back from her. He turns to face The Daughter.</p>
<p>"It's okay," he reassures Ron. "Dark doesn't have to be evil, you know. There's good and bad aspects to both sides of The Force. She's willing to help with this—it's in her best interest, too."</p>
<p>Ron stretches out a hesitant hand to touch both of theirs and then suddenly they're standing in a room high above the ground, by a window overlooking a city with no visible ground. It's nighttime and two men are dueling each other with those bright glowsticks.</p>
<p>"Lightsabers," The Daughter whispers to him. "They're called lightsabers. That's Master Mace Windu," he continues, pointing to the dark man wielding a purple…lightsaber.</p>
<p>"And, <em>that's</em> the Emperor," The Son finishes, crossing her arms as she observes the scene. "Emperor Palpatine."</p>
<p>Ron glances at the old, cackling evil man with his red lightsaber, and then at The Son's fierce smile, and shudders. He can feel the evil pouring off The Emperor in waves.</p>
<p>Before he can make any move, even to step away from the window, the doors burst open. Palpatine is on his back, backing away from Master Windu, as if he hasn't just slaughtered these three also with lightsabers lying nearby. Ron's uncle enters the room, eyes wild, but decidedly unyellow. Instead they're the same striking blue as The Daughter's. Palpatine begs Anakin to save him, and Anakin visibly teeters on the brink.</p>
<p>Master Windu makes the mistake of saying that he's too dangerous to live, and insisting that Anakin help finish him off.</p>
<p>Anakin cuts off his hand, instead, and Palpatine shoves Master Windu out the window.</p>
<p>"What have I done?" Anakin asks, obviously distraught, and Palpatine strikes, taking advantage of this moment of weakness to ensure this man's loyalty.</p>
<p>To save Padmé, Anakin swears fealty to Palpatine.</p>
<p>The Son frowns. "But—she died," she protests. "That's why we were raised apart, in different families. Didn't he save her?"</p>
<p>"He must have broken his promise," The Daughter says, reaching out a hand for his sister. "He lied to Father."</p>
<p>"But then, the apprenticeship is built on a false contract! Under duress! He didn't—didn't really <em>choose</em>, did he?" The Son asks. Her eyes are a warm brown, suddenly like her mother's, and there is not even a glimmer of yellow, or fangs. She appears almost frantic as she looks to her brother, and to Ron.</p>
<p>"Then we'll fix this. We'll work to set things right, and bring balance to the Force, as our father, The Father, was meant to. Not in Darkness, not in Light. In Balance," The Daughter declares, turning to Ron. "Are you in, Ron?"</p>
<p>"We're trying to save your parents?" he asks, not quite sure he's keeping up.</p>
<p>It is The Son who replies,</p>
<p>"And yours, I suppose. We do owe you a bit of a favour, as we'll need your help for this to work. I think we can save your mother, anyway. We'd have to interfere with Maul on Mandalore, I suppose…."</p>
<p>"Count me in!" Ron says, eagerly.</p>
<p>The Son looks at him, as if she's just realised that something is off about him, and then catches sight of the length of vine wrapped around his arm.</p>
<p>"I'd say you've used about half of that. Okay, let's get going. Between the three of us, we should be able to pinpoint all four of the relevant people here. Obi-wan Kenobi, Satine Kryze, Padmé Amidala, and Anakin Skywalker. We'll save them all."</p>
<p>She sounds so determined, and so <em>human</em>, that Ron can't help staring. And, he realises that, whatever these two, his cousins, are, they're also human. Sometimes, they take off their ceremonial robes, and reveal the ordinary people underneath.</p>
<p>This is probably what enables them to work together.</p>
<p>This time, he doesn't hesitate when his cousins form a bridge of their hands, immediately slamming his own down on top of theirs, and they're off.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Unnatural Back and Forth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Weasley family at this time.  Also, Ron meets The Daughter for the first time (again).  But not The Son</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the years following the defeat of Lord Voldemort, Arthur Weasley was often away from home, working overtime to help clean up the mess that comes naturally with wars. It wasn't his job, but he did it anyway, because that was what sort of person he was. The generous kind. The kind who cared.</p><p>But, it meant that his family saw less of him than they might wish, and that Molly Weasley monopolised much of his time, telling him everything that seemed most important to her, about her day. After that, Bill and Charlie were most important, as they were only home during the summer months, spending the rest of their time at Hogwarts. Even before Charlie went to Hogwarts, there was prep., and, as the second eldest, he had the most responsibility and pressure on him after Bill. Then, of course, there was little sister Ginny, the youngest and The Girl, and then the rest of Arthur's attention was a free-for-all.</p><p>Percy stood out of it, determined to be the good son who was obedient and kept his younger siblings in line, to take the weight off his Dad's shoulders. Fred and George gave him Hell as pushback. They pranked and wrought havoc to get their father's attention, and often enough they got it.</p><p>There was no room in this equation for Ron, and he knew it. He was the sixth boy, the stepping stone on the way to his beloved brat of a younger sister, next after the Twins. Half the time, Mum called him by the wrong name. She even called him Fabian once. She bit her lip afterwards, and he knew she regretted it but she was too proud to apologise or make him any assurances that she knew him apart from the rest.</p><p>He felt superfluous, lying there reading his comics or playing quidditch with Fred and George. Sometimes he was set as babysitter over Ginny, when Percy wasn't around, but only because no one would give that sort of responsibility to the Twins.</p><p>He knew his mum was a busy woman, but surely she'd realised how much work raising seven kids would be? And, Dad was so scarce he might as well not exist. They were overworked, and Mum was always exhausted, although she tried to hide it, and finances were always tight. The rest of the Wizarding World looked down on them. Even at age four, Ron knew it.</p><p>Their clothes were shabby and worn down secondhand muggle clothes, and their books were all from the reduced price used section. Bill and Charlie got new wands, but Ron knew he wouldn't. He'd get a hand-me-down. Bill and Charlie would both be out of school by the time he started, after all. Percy only had a pet because he'd brought in a stray from the garden, had him checked over in the Magical Menagerie, and put his foot down for the first and quite possibly last time about keeping him. Ron wished he could be so lucky.</p><p>Ginny should have been able to empathise with him, but she was The Girl, and the youngest, and Mum and Dad doted on her. Ron was left alone for the most part and, remembering what Mom had told him, he pressed his lips together and didn't complain. He kept to himself instead, staring out at the window when he wasn't reading comic books or playing quidditch or trying to deliberately use magic or practicing using The Force and bracing himself to pass it off as magic.</p><p>He could still use The Force even here in the Wizarding World. He didn't know what to make of that. It certified to him that that other world and other life were real. Other than that…what good did it do? Mom and Dad weren't <em>here</em>, in this world. Not that it mattered. He'd never met his other dad. Arthur Weasley was the only father he'd ever known. And even he knew that that was kind of pathetic.</p><p>Mom spent so much time looking out windows as if waiting for Dad to come home, only to turn and give him a tight-lipped smile and quieten him if she thought he was making too much noise. He usually knew better; he knew they were in hiding from the Emperor. He tried to be quiet. He tried to be good. He knew it was important, even if he didn't quite understand all the details.</p><p>Sometimes, his cousin Korkie would come over, and Mom was always in a better mood then, but it was still hard, quite as hard, as cleanup after the Blood War. Life constantly on the run wore his Mom ragged, and her worry over what had become of his father didn't help. He knew that. He tried, like Percy, to make things easy for her. That carried over to this life, too.</p><p>And despite this, despite trying to run a government in exile, despite the war raging still around them and her continued commitment to peace, Mom still managed to make time for him. He didn't know how she did it, but he loved her all the more for it. She was so incredibly strong and brilliant, he wanted to be just like her when he grew up. Only, not as worn and ragged. He wished he could take that away from her. It wasn't fair.</p><p>It made him feel that his Mum wasn't even trying. It made him feel like she didn't love him. It made him not want to take the effort of bonding with anyone from that family.</p><p>Ginny wouldn't leave him be. Whenever he went quiet, she was in his face, dragging him off to play with her, and she roughhoused as much as Fred or George, but quieter. She won arm wrestling matches and hand-to-hand, but lost when they played Knights and Robbers. When Ron could practice lightsabers despite not having one he beat anyone.</p><p>Because no one in the Wizarding World used lightsabers. Because no one in the Wizarding World even used swords. Because they'd never heard of jedis or siths or Coruscant or Emperor Palpatine or Mandalore or Death Watch or the Inquisitors or—</p><p>Thankfully, he hadn't quite thought to ask, until after his first meeting with The Force Gods. He'd taken for granted that they were all one world and reality back then, and that wizards could travel through space, and that jedis could use magic. Mom had gently sat him down and told him that there was no such thing, and there were tears in her eyes so he hadn't pressed it.</p><p>And he'd kept silent about the subject in England, too, waiting for it to come up. Mom had already told him to be cautious talking about jedis and siths and the Emperor, because force-sensitives could read minds and they were powerful and his father was a very important person.</p><p>He was glad he was so cautious, even though everything changed after that first meeting. It had happened one night, after Mom had tucked him into the bed of their hotel room, and turned out the light. He was pretty sure he'd remember it for the rest of his life.</p>
<hr/><p>Cool, soft grass underfoot, and a lake sparkling off into the distance makes for an obvious contrast to a dingy hotel room. Ron is only about five years old, but he knows enough to suspect that he's been kidnapped, taken in his sleep. He thinks of how devastated his mom will be, and blinks back tears.</p><p>"It's okay," a smiling voice says, and suddenly there's a boy there, a few years older than he—he thinks about ten galactic standard years old. The boy has longish golden hair, and the brightest, bluest eyes Ron has ever seen. They're bluer than his own, bluer than Mom's, bluer than the eyes he sees in the mirror when he's Ron Weasley. They're almost unnatural. The boy is dressed in dingy white robes that look homespun, and his skin is weathered and tanned. Still, there's a sort of glow about him. It's especially strong around the vines wrapped around his right arm.</p><p>The Force, Ron thinks in surprise. It's The Force, pouring from the figure before him like a beacon.</p><p>"I wasn't expecting to find anyone else here," he continues. "This is what I think Naboo looks like. It's where I go when I try to meditate. Usually. Unless my sister interrupts. She lives on Alderaan. She's The Son, so she makes everything dark and I can't come here."</p><p>Ron wonders how a sun can make anything dark, but his misunderstanding is corrected without him having to say anything when the boy continues, "I'm The Daughter, by the way. It's nice to meet you, even if you shouldn't be able to be here. Unless this really is Naboo?"</p><p>He looks around, and then down at Ron.</p><p>"Oh, dear. You have that look that says this is all new to you and you don't understand. And you're—what, five years old, or something? A bit older than my sister and me, but still a little kid. Here, this helps me."</p><p>He pulls off a vine from around his arm, and wraps it around Ron's. He feels something pulse, energy filling him. Knowledge. Understanding. His mind aging, just temporarily, to match whatever age the boy before him is.</p><p>He's not supposed to talk to strangers, especially since they might be servants of the Emperor. But he's here in this boy's mind (probably?), and it seems really rude not to say something.</p><p>"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come here," he says at last. "I don't even know how I got here."</p><p>"We must have some sort of Force Bond, like me and my sister," The Daughter says. "What's your name? Maybe I'll be able to place how you got here."</p><p><em>Now</em> Ron hesitates. But, this kid said he was younger than Ron. And something about the light rolling off him suggests that Ron can trust him. "It's—it's Ron," he says. "I mean, it's Aishi-Ron Kryze."</p><p>The Daughter's eyes widen. "You mean, the Lost Prince of Mandalore?" he asks. Ron winces. He hadn't realised just how well-known he was.</p><p>"Hey, it's alright. Don't be alarmed. I'm your cousin, actually. My dad and yours were like brothers. They were really close."</p><p>A flare of something sparks in Ron's heart. A glimmer of hope?</p><p>"Do you know where Dad is?" he asks immediately. "Mom's really worried about him, I can tell. I wish I could meet him, too."</p><p>The Daughter hangs his head. "Uh, yeah. About that—"</p><p>He hesitates, and Ron leans forwards, clasping his hands before him. "Pleeease!"</p><p>"He's here on Tatooine," The Daughter says. "Watching over me. I don't—I don't think he knows you exist. I'm sorry."</p><p>How is it that this boy, The Daughter, has heard of Ron, but his own father doesn't know about him?</p><p>"I think he—I think he's shut himself off from the world. I know him only as Ben Kenobi, the mad old hermit who lives in the Jundland Wastes. I've scarcely even seen him. And your name—it isn't as well-known as you think it is. I only know it because I'm a Force God. Your mom really kept her cover well."</p><p>Ron has heard the word "god" before, but only in the Christian sense, and only in the Wizarding World. It still makes him think that he's dealing with something far beyond his comprehension. Wait, didn't The Daughter say he was Ron's <em>cousin</em>? How does that work? How even can that work?</p><p>He just tries to set it aside. Maybe that's some sort of wacky title, or maybe not, but Mum always talks about how important family is. Surely, that's more important than whatever it is that The Daughter is.</p><p>"Will you tell him—about me, I mean?" asks Ron, not daring quite to get his hopes up. The Daughter meets him with a sad smile of his own.</p><p>"I can't—I'm not allowed around him. When I'm…meditating, when I'm like this, a Force God, I can do a lot of things, but I can't control all of them that well, and…you're from a different time than I am, I think. A few years in the past. If I could get to him, and if I told him, and if he believed me, and if he knew how to find you…he'd still be showing up in…about a decade, I think."</p><p>"Oh," Ron says, his gaze falling to his feet.</p><p>"But!" The Daughter continues. "I think maybe I could make it so that he never leaves to begin with. I'm trying to find out a way to save Father from Falling to the Dark Side anyway."</p><p>Ron shivers at the mention of the Dark Side. It's always terrified him, for as long as he can remember, since before he should have understood how terrible it was. He's probably still too young to comprehend the enormity of it, but the vine wrapped around his arm helps.</p><p>"How would you do that?" he asks instead, sitting down in the grass by The Daughter's side. He feels safe around him, for some reason. Maybe because they're family.</p><p>"Simple. We'll go back in time to the Siege of Mandalore, and…I dunno, tell your dad about you?"</p><p>"What about Maul?" asks Ron, wide-eyed. "And how will that help your dad?"</p><p>The Daughter gives him a sad smile. "Maybe it won't," he concedes. "But I have to try."</p><p>"You don't even have a plan?" asks Ron, aghast. "Time travel is really dangerous as it is—that's why The Ministry keeps such a close eye on the Time Turners!"</p><p>He is proud of himself for remembering this from when Dad recently came home after dealing with an unexpectedly ordinary case of wizards trying to pass time turners off as antique hourglasses. But The Daughter looks nonplussed.</p><p>"'Ministry'? 'Time turners'?" he repeats. "What're those?"</p><p>Ron smiles, happy to know something others don't for once. "Time turners are these devices like muggle hourglasses that let you go back in time. And the Ministry is the head of the government of the Wizarding World."</p><p>The Daughter is force-sensitive, and he's a god of some sort, so it's alright, right?</p><p>"Wizarding World?" The Daughter repeats, sounding even more confused.</p><p>"It's the secret world I belong to. We use magic and stuff."</p><p><em>Wingardium Leviosa</em>, the levitation spell, is low-enough level for him to use, he thinks, but you can do that with The Force. He tries a bit of transfiguration, instead, to turn a blade of grass into a matchstick, like he'd seen Charlie practice with needles. It doesn't work quite right but, after a few minutes of befuddlement from The Daughter, the grass turns brown and woody—at least for a moment, before it reverts.</p><p>There's a pause. "If it's a secret world, I don't think you should be telling anyone," The Daughter admonishes him, rising to his feet.</p><p>"But…but you're different. You're family, right?"</p><p>And a Force God—whatever that is.</p><p>"<em>No one</em>, Aishi-Ron," The Daughter insists. "Can you imagine if word got back to The Emperor? And…I don't think you should tell anyone in this 'Wizarding World' of yours about anything about The Force or all. They wouldn't believe you. They might…put you away."</p><p>He's trying to be gentle about it, and to use small words. Ron frowns. Mom had already told him to be careful not to talk about The Force or jedis or siths.</p><p>"Just…be careful. Please. Whatever is special about you is a lot more dangerous than time travel. I do that all the time. Ha! Come on!"</p><p>He holds out a hand, and Ron somehow knows to lay his own hand on top. And then, they are gone.</p>
<hr/><p>Everything is chaos at the Siege of Mandalore. Mandalorian Death Watch members storm the capital and take it. Maul arrives and tries to seize power from Pre Viszla. And there is Mom. She puts out a distress call to "Obi-wan Kenobi" and waits. He can tell that she feels helpless by that determined set to her face. She wishes she could stop the war, stop the fighting, but she can't.</p><p>Darth Maul is the single most terrifying thing Ron recalls ever seeing in either life. Red and black all over, with those glowing yellow eyes like pools of fire and hate pours off him in a constant assault.</p><p>A man with red hair arrives, and Ron stares at him. The Daughter nudges his shoulder against Ron's side, and says, "That's him. That's your dad. He looks so <em>young</em>."</p><p>They both look young. More than just four or five years have been lifted from his mother's face. If he'd admired her before, he was mesmerised now.</p><p>There's a wrenching, a distortion, and The Force buckles. Maul feels it. Dad feels it.</p><p>The Daughter feels it. He frowns. "That feels like my sister. And <em>me</em>. but—"</p><p>Suddenly, a man is there. He has long, curly hair, and eyes as blue as The Daughter's. Ron wonders who he is, until The Daughter loses control, reaching out for him. "Father," he whispers. He's clearly torn.</p><p>Ron watches as the new player on the field rushes the guards, backed up by a familiar girl with orange skin and blue and white lekku. She's wearing a ridiculous outfit for a jedi, but she must be a jedi because she's wielding two lightsabers, and neither of them are red. But that looks like his teacher, ex-jedi padawan Ahsoka Tano.</p><p>They make their escape, the four of them, as Maul screams in rage. Dad is solicitous, worrying and fussing over his Mom. It's sweet and heartbreaking and fills Ron with a strange longing.</p><p>"We have to hurry. You've already used up half your vine!" The Daughter says. He's troubled himself to tell Ron who these people are (the one he can't identify himself, that is). Anakin Skywalker, the Hero with No Fear, destined to Fall and become the infamous Darth Vader.</p><p>Or maybe not destined, if The Daughter thinks he can change things.</p><p>They haven't even changed <em>anything</em>, yet.</p>
<hr/><p>The Daughter makes a mistake. He reaches out a hand, and Ron slaps his on top, and then they're in a tall building, standing by a window looking out over a city built so high you can't see the ground. Or, maybe there isn't any ground. An old man stands nearby, looking at the door with eager anticipation.</p><p>"That's Emperor Palpatine," The Daughter hisses, "The Sith Master."</p><p>As they watch, four jedi masters enter the room. Ron knows they all died, but he doesn't know their names.</p><p>"Master Kit Fisto, Master Saesee Tiin, Master Agen Kolar, and Master Mace Windu," The Daughter says, pausing time to label them one by one.</p><p>The moment Palpatine goes for them, The Daughter becomes flickering and transparent, and interposes himself between, drawing a lightsaber that didn't exist before he drew it to block Palpatine's powerful blow.</p><p>Aishi-Ron notices one in his own hands, an invitation to join with The Daughter in this battle. His heart is pounding. The stakes are high. He is mortal, and not a god, and only five years old, and Palpatine will surely kill him.</p><p>He presses the on button, and becomes flickering himself. They push Palpatine back, together, and Master Windu realises what just happened. He understands that his enemy is not to be underestimated. That they'd been too cocky. He sends the other masters off for some unknown reason (probably to get help of some sort?) and faces off against the Emperor, alone.</p><p>A few minutes later, Anakin Skywalker barrels into the room.</p><p>Palpatine feigns helplessness, insisting that the jedi are taking over, that Windu can't be trusted, that these children are in danger.</p><p>The Daughter silences him with a force push so powerful, it knocks the wind out of him, knocking him against the wall. Temporarily, he's out, but Anakin rounds on the two of them. A sense of unbelievable power rolls off him, neither light nor quite dark. He is on a precipice, on the verge of falling. The Daughter knows this. His face pales.</p><p>But, Anakin hesitates to hurt a youngling. "What are you doing here? This isn't a place for initiates!"</p><p>"I'm not an initiate," The Daughter replies, softly. "I'm your son, traveled back in time from a horrible future."</p><p>Anakin's head jerks, seemingly automatically, to Ron. Ron waves shyly back.</p><p>"Aishi-Ron Kryze," he says. Might as well. Anakin blinks several times, and a mixture of anger and amusement pours from him.</p><p>"Did you say <em>Kryze</em>?" Master Windu demands. "As in: Satine Kryze?"</p><p>Ron turns to The Daughter, who nods.</p><p>"She's my Mom," Ron says.</p><p>Anakin looks triumphant. The fear and desperation that smothered his light a little while ago subside, but they're already returning.</p><p>"That hypocrite! He had a <em>kid</em> and didn't tell me?"</p><p>"Dad doesn't know about me," Ron admits, sadly. Anakin's force-storm of emotions stills. He looks stricken.</p><p>"Oh—I—I'm really sorry. And—and you're probably from the future too, right?"</p><p>He must have felt the truth in The Daughter's statement in The Force. He seems to take it as a fact that The Daughter is a time traveler, or rather, his time-traveling son.</p><p>Ron nods.</p><p>"Sorry, kid. What—what happened to your father? In the future?"</p><p>Ron glances at The Daughter again, and Anakin follows his gaze. Palpatine rises, unnoticed, by the far wall.</p><p>"Skywalker!" Windu shouts. "You broke the kriffing <em>Code</em>?"</p><p>"Now is <em>not</em> the time," The Daughter scolds him. "And considering your life was just saved by the sons of two of your jedi who broke the 'kriffing Code', perhaps you might go easy on them."</p><p>Master Windu seems to come to himself, and to remember what he's doing. "Right," he says. "Supreme Chancellor Darth Sidious, you are under arrest."</p><p>"Father, please," The Daughter is saying to Anakin. He murmurs something low in his father's ear, and rage flashes, white-hot.</p><p>Anakin snarls, and whirls towards Palpatine, intent on the kill, this time.</p><p>"Not in anger, Father, please!" The Daughter begs. "It's what he wants!"</p><p>Then, his eyes widen. "Oh, hells. I'm sorry, Father. I have to go. Remember: don't give in to your anger."</p><p>He holds out a hand, and Ron slaps his own down on top without questioning it. He can feel what seems to be a pit of infinite darkness moving towards them through time at a breakneck speed. He wonders what they narrowly avoided.</p>
<hr/><p>He blinks, staring, and sees that he is no longer flickering and transparent. He's also somewhere unfamiliar, and his vine is wearing thin. Only a tendril or two remain. It looks faint and wispy as smoke, unreal. He wonders if anyone else could even see it.</p><p>Before he can get his bearings, or begin to properly panic, the door in the corner is thrown open, and light pours in.</p><p>"Ron! Ron, are you alright?" calls a familiar voice. It's higher than usual in panic. He can't see who's speaking for all the light. But, he knows that voice. He's heard it all his life. No, he hasn't. Yes, he has. No, he hasn't. Yes, he has.</p><p>The vine continues to fray.</p><p>"'m alright, Dad," he says. There's a bit of a thrill, using the name for the first time in this world.</p><p>His dad, Obi-wan Kenobi, pulls up a chair that was sitting by a desk, and sits down next to Ron.</p><p>"Really?" he asked. "I felt your distress in The Force just now." He's gone back to being cool and collected, impossible to read. Like Mom.</p><p>"Where's Mom?" Ron whispers.</p><p>There's a thrill of foreboding settling in his stomach. His Dad looks very sad.</p><p>"Ron, are you sure you're feeling alright? You've never met your mother. Did you dream that you did?"</p><p>Dad looks almost hopeful, for some reason.</p><p>Ron's lying down in a bed too large for him. He realises this quite suddenly, and the lingering effects of the dying vine tell him that his dad probably won't believe this is anything but a dream, but—</p><p>"What do you mean? Mom's the one who raised me, while you were out hiding in those Junnan Wastes!"</p><p>Dad breathes in, sharply. "This isn't funny, Ron," he says, a bit of an edge to his voice. A bit of anger.</p><p>And then, Ron remembers that his Mom is dead, that she died when he was even younger than he is now, just in time to overreact when Anakin Skywalker enters the room.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry....<br/>Let's see, here: Okay, does anyone know how to post a chapter without the editor stripping away all formatting?  I mean, bold, italics, and underlining, really.  I tried following their advice in the FAQs, even, but all that did was add a bunch of pointless spaces everywhere.  I sent them an e-mail asking about it, and tried what they suggested...that didn't work, either.<br/>Still, it has to be <i>possible</i>, right?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Cherished and Unwanted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ron and The Daughter set about changing the past--and then, Ron gets stuck in the Wizarding World for a few months.  It sucks for him.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy Hollowe'en!<br/>*ahem!*<br/>Well, I thought it was funny....<br/>Anyway, Hallowe'en is one of my Big Days, so I thought I'd give you guys something.  Meh, this is a highly dramatic chapter, but at least it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, as the last one did.<br/>Stay safe!  ♥</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It worked. Somehow, between what The Daughter and he had done together, and what The Daughter had done after he'd left, they'd managed to prevent Anakin Skywalker from Falling. Anakin had, with mixed feelings, gone on to tell Dad about Ron, and the Children's Home (Ron will never get more details on what this "Children's Home" was, other than that his mother had put him there during the Clone Wars to protect him whilst she fought the peace).</p><p>After Mom died, killed by <em>Maul</em>, of all people, Dad came for him. He, Uncle Ani, Aunt Padmé, and his cousins, Luke and Leia, (whom he hasn't even <em>met</em> yet. Apparently, they're too young for dangerous things like traveling or being left alone) had gone into hiding together. They'd survived Order Sixty-Six, but they were outcasts, jedis, with kill on sight orders. Emperor Palpatine still ruled the galaxy, although the Jedi Order, what remained of it, had joined forces with the Resistance to oppose him.</p><p>As when he'd lived with Mom, they were always in motion, never staying long in one place, operating in two different sects of Rebels and Jedi, with his never-master Ahsoka Tano forming a bridge betwixt the two. Prior to his death defending the temple, Master Windu had interceded on Dad and Uncle Ani's behalves, insisting that they be allowed to remain in the Order. They migrated with the Temple at times and at others struck off on their own, as if on an extended mission. The family was always on the same planet, and never that far apart. Uncle Ani felt his distress as keenly as Dad, and had come rushing over to help.</p><p>He glared at Dad, insisting that he was pushing Ron too hard, and then set about with his patented child-soothing technique. Hot chocolate? Storytime? Do you want to talk about this? Let me sing you a lullaby my Mom used to sing to me, back when I lived with her on Tatooine. Ron finds himself filled with an intense affection for his newfound uncle. Uncle Ani calms him down, first, and then he is sent to bed, with the promise from his father that they'll Talk About This More in the Morning.</p><p>But, that is not how things turn out. Probably.</p>
<hr/><p>He awoke the morning after his journey through time and space in a bed with a threadbare mattress and bright orange sheets with moving pictures of wizards on broomsticks on them. It had been a brighter orange a few months ago, but it wore out a bit since.</p><p>He clenched his hands into fists, beyond merely annoyed at losing his newly gained uncle, before releasing that feeling-or trying to. But, The Force didn't exist in The Wizarding World. And he, who had spent his childhood being told and trained by his dad to release his negative emotions lest they cloud his judgement and control him, or by his Mom reminding him of what his not-master Ahsoka Tano had taught him, he was too dependent upon that as a way of controlling his feelings. It made him more irritable and aggressive, probably.</p><p>It made him mean, he thought as the effects of the vine wore off. It made people not like him. He turned over and tried to get back to sleep, and discovered that he'd actually been awoken by a knock at the door. Mum wanted him up. They were going to go to Diagon Alley, and Percy was coming, so there was no one to babysit him. He had to get ready to get going. He frowned, wishing that he could stay in his room a bit longer and grieve. He reached out with The Force for Dad, or 'Soka, or Uncle Ani, or The Daughter, or even his non-force-sensitive Mom, but they were too far away. He sat on his bed and cried, even though grown-ups never cried, Mum said, and crying was a weakness, Dad said.</p><p>"That's not true," he remembered that Uncle Ani had said, sitting down next to him and throwing an arm around him in a one-armed hug, gazing off into the distance. "Just means you have deep feelings, and care a lot. That's a <em>good</em> thing. Your dad tries to stick to a Code that <em>never worked</em>!"</p><p>But, he knew that Mum and Dad (Molly and Arthur Weasley, as they were better known) agreed with Dad's sentiments, not Uncle Ani's or Aunt Padmé's. He wiped his nose and his eyes with his pyjama sleeves and suppressed his tears with a dose of good old-fashioned Kryze dignity and stood.</p><p>There was an ache in his chest. It hurt, really, really bad, and he thought it was probably because he'd really made a mess of things this time, he and The Daughter both, because now his Mom was <em>gone</em>, had never been there, and in its own way that was worse than not-having Dad, who at least was still alive, even if he were on Tatooine.</p><p>He remembered the trip to Diagon Alley, now. Mum had picked out clothes for it and told him about it last night, a week ago. He suspected he'd be spending an entire week, at the very least, in this world. Probably he'd be shunted back to the Jedi Makeshift Temple just after he'd forgotten entirely what he and Dad and Uncle Ani were supposed to talk about in the morning, "the night before".</p><p>And this was what happened.</p><p>However, first there was the trip to Diagon Alley. He finally met Lucius Malfoy, and decided that he hated the man. He knew hatred was bad and wrong and led to the Dark Side, but Malfoy was just another privileged snob who didn't realise how the galaxy bent backwards for him. He acted like he thought he was a noble, or was pretending to be one, but he obviously didn't know the first thing about playing the part.</p><p>"Why do we have to keep running all the time?" he'd asked his mom. "If they don't like you, why do you keep doing gove—govemen—ruling stuff?"</p><p>"Let me tell you the most important thing about ruling," his mother had told him, sitting at a chair on the opposite side of a small end table from him. There were deep bags under her eyes, because things had been going really badly with Death Watch and reconstruction, whatever those were, and she'd been working late for a week. It reminded him of Britain-Dad, but he knew better than to say that word around her. "The most important thing about ruling is looking after the needs of the people. A queen or duchess is nothing without her people. They come <em>first</em>. That is what being nobility means, Ron. It means that your people are more important than you are. No matter what they might think of you. You must do what is best for <em>them</em>."</p><p>Lucius did not have anyone to protect, as far as Ron could tell. He was a selfish poser who thought that fancy clothes and furniture made him better than everyone else. If there wer an opposite to nobility, that was what he was.</p><p>Dimly, he had the sense that Aunt Padmé might have once explained nobility in a similar way to his Mom, but the memory was still too new, like a newly hatched chick still covered in egg goo.</p><p>Ron decided that the existence of people like the Malfoys was an offence to the name of nobility, and therefore, to his own name. To his <em>Mom's</em> name, and to meet something like <em>him</em>, now, now when his Mom was suddenly <em>gone</em> as if she'd never existed….</p><p>"You're real quiet," Ron," Ginny said, nudging against him. "Mr. Malfoy can't really get Dad fired, can he?"</p><p>Ron glared at her, and she ignored it. "Don't call him <em>Mr.</em>," he snapped. "He doesn't deserve any respect!"</p><p>Ginny blinked.</p><p>"Okay," she said.</p><p>Later, much, much later, Ron would wonder whether either all his interactions with The Daughter, all his time traveling, or his double lives made him more mature than he should have been. He technically was twice as old as he was at any given time. For now, he just wondered why Ginny didn't seem to get it.</p>
<hr/><p>It happened because Dad had come with them to Diagon Alley. The fear around the war, and all the extra hours, were winding down, now, after four years. Most of the Death Eaters had been caught by now—or, at least, that was the propaganda (Ron was familiar with propaganda, although he didn't know that name for it. Of course, it was just propaganda, as many Death Eaters still walked free. Dad made sure that he knew this.) Dad was starting to just do the job he was paid for. He was starting to have the freedom of accompanying his kids to Diagon Alley to buy Charlie's school supplies, even.</p><p>Mum was distracted because Ginny had tugged on her robes and demanded to go look at Magical Menagerie. Ron didn't know why she bothered. Even if their parents might be willing to buy her a pet, as she was <em>the girl</em>, they couldn't afford it. Ron was used to an ascetic lifestyle. Almost everything he truly <em>owned</em> was in this world. Life on the run hadn't allowed him many possessions, and a jedi was not allowed to be attached to <em>anything</em>. Even Uncle Ani seemed confused about the idea of owning physical things, although he understood it a lot better. He had his lightsaber and his jedi robes and his personal ship that he'd upgraded and didn't let anyone else pilot.</p><p>The idea of owning books, however, or even clothes, seemed a bit much for him.</p><p>Or, at least, that was what Ron thought he remembered. He had a lot of new memories of things he wasn't sure had happened. Memories of Dad and Uncle Ani and Aunt Padmé trying to raise him on their own. Of never knowing his Mom. Of never meeting 'Soka.</p><p>But, Mum indulged Ginny, as she always did, and Ron, the Twins, Percy, and Charlie went with Dad to Flourish and Blott. Lucius Malfoy was there, because Mrs. Malfoy had apparently heard about a new book she absolutely had to have, and had sent him to get it. The title was in a font that gave Ron a headache trying to read it. Something about superiority of blood and keeping house? And manners?</p><p>Fake nobility, Ron scoffed. With all their airs and pretension, looking down their noses at everyone not dressed to the nines with pressed clothes and makeup that cost enough to bankroll an entire city.</p><p>"Ah, Arthur, I didn't expect to see you here," said Malfoy. "I see, I see. It's a pity you can't get a special pension to help offset the costs of buying all those textbooks for all of your children. You would think being Dumbledore's favourite family would be good for something."</p><p>Dad gritted his teeth. Ron bit his lip and tried not to say anything about The Force. He remembered what The Daughter had said, and his cousin seemed really wise. Besides, there was no Force to release his emotions into here.</p><p>"Just because I didn't have to <em>buy</em> my way out of prison doesn't make me <em>inferior</em>, Lucius."</p><p>"Careful, you wouldn't want to be seen making baseless accusations," Malfoy Senior said. "They might think you too…biased to continue working in such delicate situations as I'm sure is necessary for working with muggles."</p><p>He sneered, and Dad's fists clenched.</p><p>"Temper, temper. Careful! They might wonder why someone so <em>obviously</em> filled with anger and such violent tendencies should be allowed around children."</p><p>Dad saw red, and tackled Malfoy to the ground, his fist already moving to punch Malfoy's face. Percy sighed, and jutted his nose in the air, wandering off to go find someone to break up the fight.</p><p>"What? Dad? Dad! Come on! He's <em>trying</em> to goad you into a fight. You can't—" Charlie tried to reach around between them.</p><p>The Twins were too amused by what was going on to do anything but watch. Ron turned to them, and then back to the fight. Without a lightsaber or free use of the Force, he didn't know what he could do.</p><p>He took a step back, lest things get more dangerous, and spells or books went flying.</p><p>He was seething, himself, but he knew his limits, and just as he wouldn't have picked a fight with a sith or knight, he knew better than to try to fight Malfoy Senior. He slipped into a light meditation, trying to box up his emotions, until he could throw them away into The Force. Dad—his other Dad—had a point. Uncle Ani was a real loose cannon (and not the good, Chudley Cannons type).</p><p>The manager got involved, pushing them apart with his hands as the assistant manager came up.</p><p>"That's enough, you two. Break it up."</p><p>There was no property damage, but, "You want to fight, do it somewhere else. Out. Now. If you've caused any damage, you're paying for it. Got it."</p><p>He turned to Lucius Malfoy. "Are you alright, sir?" he asked, extending a hand to help Mr. Malfoy up, which he took with exaggerated grace and a grimace. Ron clenched his hands into fists and turned away.</p><p>"Hang on!"</p><p>"You can't just put this all on <em>Dad</em>," the Twins said.</p><p>"That's enough, you two," said Dad, mustering up his pride with an expression that reminded Ron of Mom. A pang of grief tore at Ron's composure, but he just looked down at Malfoy with a glare.</p><p>They left without getting Charlie's textbooks. Mum would come back later to try to smooth things out with the manager. It wouldn't do to get <em>banned</em> from the only store that even sold discounted used copies of these textbooks.</p><p>Mum met them on the street a few minutes later. Her hands immediately went to her hips with her most no-nonsense attitude, as Ron hung back. Ginny went over to him.</p><p>"You didn't even get Charlie's books? Were they sold out? What happened? Hang on—you haven't been <em>fighting</em> again, have you? And in front of your kids, too. Think of what sort of an impression you're making on them!"</p><p>She gestured to Ginny and The Twins. Charlie lingered in the doorway with hooded eyes, and glanced Ron's way, with a weary smile.</p><p>Dad drew himself up. "Malfoy started it," he said, sounding petulant.</p><p>"Oh, good grief! What is he supposed to have done now?" Mum demanded. Ron was not particularly happy with her. He was not particularly happy with either of them. But he was willing to forgive Dad. Dad reminded him a bit of Uncle Ani. And on a good day, when he was around, he could be a lot of fun. Tinkering with cars was as boring as tinkering with spaceships but it was familiar, even if Ron kept wondering where the hydrospanners and socket wrenches were. And what they were.</p><p>The way Dad explained things made sense of a lot of Malfoy's words, most of which he hadn't properly understood before. Malfoy was nasty. Ron had to keep shoving his anger and fear into his box to release into The Force. He wished jedi-Dad were here, or Mom, or even Uncle Ani.</p><p>Jedi Master Dad could talk circles around Malfoy, Ron was sure. And Uncle Ani never lost a fight. But, he remembered what The Daughter had said about not talking about The Force or anyone he knew in…the other galaxy?</p><p>Arthur Weasley was barely even a person to Ron, but he was still better than Molly Weasley. Ron was ashamed to be related to them, for a moment. This man—his <em>father</em>—had as little self-control as Uncle Ani, and without the sith manipulation or upbringing or anything to justify it. And <em>Mum</em>! Would she notice if he ran away? Malfoy had no right to say what he did, but—</p><p>But what? Maybe he had a point? Maybe The Weasleys <em>were</em> in over their collective heads?</p><p>He walked off. He didn't need to tell anyone about The Force to be able to use it.</p><p>"Where're you going?" Ginny demanded to know. "You can't leave. Not without me, at least!"</p><p>"You didn't see me leave," he told her, with a wave of his hand.</p><p>She blinked and shook her head in a daze. But, she let him go. He <em>needed</em> some time to himself, to calm down. He went back into Flourish and Blott. He shielded his presence in the Force automatically, before realising there was no Force, and no Force-sensitives to shield from. He was used to wandering off on his own, supervised at a distance by whatever member of the Order had crêche duty that day.</p><p>He usually had a lightsaber to help protect him, though. But, no one could take The Force from him. Training lightsabers weren't that dangerous, anyway.</p><p>He wandered the aisles, looking for books that hinted at the existence of other galaxies, travel through space. He saw one on time travel, but it wasn't a popular subject. The Ministry didn't approve. It was too dangerous, and the new peace was fragile.</p><p>He looked for books on nobility, and found nasty stuff like that book Mrs. Malfoy had wanted. He pulled it off the shelf and tried to read it, but it was full of pretentious long words and technical terms. And it was all on etiquette, whatever that was, and proper housekeeping and how to boss around servants. That wasn't what nobility meant at all.</p><p>He decided that he'd need to find a book on meditation. His allowance wasn't that big, though, so he'd have to save for it and read what he could here. He hung around the used section but of course it wasn't a popular subject and people didn't buy that many copies, which meant that few of them were sold back to the bookstore. Maybe he'd look in the muggle world. The pound was weak against the galleon. He might have better luck. But, not today. He didn't know how he could get past the entrance and back to Diagon Alley again if he left.</p><p>He found a book on meditation, eventually, and opened it to the Table of Contents, scanning the chapter titles.</p><p>Worthless. He hoped the muggle world had something better on offer, but read a bit anyway, just in case.</p><p>He put the book back, and left the store. His parents and siblings had left without him. He didn't know where else they'd planned to go. They'd already been to Gringotts, so that was out. Not Magical Menagerie or Flourish and Blott. Maybe the apothecary, then, if they were still shopping for Charlie's school supplies. He tried not to panic, but rather to think about this rationally, as Dad had taught him. Break the problem down. Find a workable solution.</p><p>There was no Force to guide him. He missed it. He missed <em>them</em>. Mom would have noticed if he'd left her sight for five minutes. Dad would have noticed. Uncle Ani and Aunt Padmé would have noticed. 'Soka would have noticed.</p><p>He scuffed his wornout sneakers on the dust of Diagon Alley, and ran towards the Apothecary as if he knew that that was where they were.</p><p>They were there. They hadn't noticed he was gone.</p>
<hr/><p>It seemed to take forever to get back to the galaxy with The Force. Dad was around slightly more often, and there to help him and Ginny learn their letters. Ginny had started a year early, because she refused to be left out, so they were learning together. Ginny was stringing together words, and knew all her letters and numbers. Ron was still stuck and lost and kept giving the wrong names to letters. Spelling was difficult. Numbers were easy.</p><p>Mum and Dad sometimes whispered, supposedly out of his earshot, about him being "developmentally challenged", and wondered if he had a "learning disability". He shoved whatever that ugly emotion was that he felt into his Force-box without bothering to try to identify it. It was something dangerous-dark. That was all that mattered.</p><p>("You need to identify and acknowledge your emotions, so that you know what you're feeling, and why you feel that way. Only then can you set about trying to fix the problem that caused them to begin with. That's the only real solution," Uncle Ani said. "I tried to shove away all my negative emotions, and that almost pushed me to The Dark Side.")</p><p>It wasn't fair! No one else was expected to keep track of over fifty letters and remember their names and what sounds they made as if there weren't plenty of duplicates. If he said "osk" instead of "o" when asked what the first letter of "owl" was, that wasn't <em>his</em> fault. They should be more specific!</p><p>One night, he went outside with a broom and the book Dad was using to teach them, and found a twig, and sat down in the dirt, and started scratching out letters, the same letters, over and over, and muttering their names while it was still fresh in his mind. " G…" he recited, over and over, writing in the dirt. Then he went through and made the sounds. And then the letter names. And then the sounds. And then the letter names.</p><p>He set to it with determination, and countered his boredom with the stamina he built up in lessons at the Temple. It was cold and dark and windy, but he kept at it until it was almost dawn, and then used the Force to push himself back onto his window ledge, and crawled inside, still shivering, and went to sleep.</p>
<hr/><p>It was over a month later that he finally recovered from whatever he'd caught outside. He wasn't entirely clear on how long it had been. He'd done his best to keep studying letters and sounds as he lay in bed until his Dad would come by and scold him for not sleeping. His fever lowered only slowly.</p><p>He didn't know what the big deal was; his other Dad would never have taken time off for such a minor inconvenienceas being sick. Then again, both Uncle Ani, and the Healers at the Temple, despaired of his Dad.</p><p>(At some point during his illness, he forgot about his Force box.)</p><p>He knew he couldn't afford to slack. He just had to keep pushing himself. He'd been stuck in bed, unable to practice even lightsaber forms. He'd settled for lifting things with The Force and sending them flying around the room, calling his quill and ink and parchment or comic books to him. He tried to levitate his bed with him on it. He wasn't used to sitting so still. Impatience began to stir, beneath the surface. He wanted to go on adventures, or even just talk to Dad and Uncle Ani and Aunt Padmé or Mom and 'Soka.</p><p>Alone in his room, he wept.</p>
<hr/><p>"Ron, wake up! You can't sleep the day away," his Dad's voice chastises him. "Besides, remember, we need to talk."</p><p>Ron sits straight up out of bed at the sound of the achingly familiar voice, and bursts into tears. He throws his arms around his Dad, and Dad, for once, seems to realise that now is Not the Time to Scold Him, because he wraps his arms around Ron and pulls him into his lap.</p><p>"It's alright. I promise I won't be angry with you," he says, with a level voice.</p><p>"Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to The Dark Side," Ron quotes back at him, trying to calm down, trying to be strong. He remembers suddenly that he can release his emotions into The Force again, and he recalls that Force-box of unwanted emotions. It's <em>heavy</em>.</p><p>He's been gone for months. He hasn't seen his Dad—the Dad he'd <em>just met</em>, for months. He hopes it isn't because The Force is angry that he and The Daughter changed time.</p><p>Uncle Ani is there in a few moments, his hair tousled in a way that suggests that he spent the night here.</p><p>"You okay, Ron?" he peeks in to ask.</p><p>It's so, so different from being at The Burrow. All of a sudden, he's not used to any attention. To being noticed. He feels like a floodlight is shining on him, and he can't see through the glare.</p><p>"Uncle Ani!" he cries, shocked to see him. He'd only just met Uncle Ani, too. He's never met Aunt Padmé, but he knows just what she looks like. Long, wavy brown hair, and the kindest, warmest brown eyes. She knows when to be sensible, and when to dress to intimidate. She's a mistress of fashion, and she always looks unnaturally beautiful. And, she always has kindness to spare, for family, for friends, for complete strangers.</p><p>He's never met her. There's one photo Mom had of her that she showed him when she was talking about her past, how they ended up on the run. Mom had been trying to explain about how she and Dad had got back together.</p><p>It hits him, again. He's traded <em>Mom</em>, his wonderful mother, for his Dad, the mad old hermit in the Wastes, and his violent almost-turned-sith uncle, and…well, there's nothing bad to be said of Aunt Padmé.</p><p>But it's <em>his</em> fault that Mom is <em>gone</em>. Dead.</p><p>(Never talk down to children. Don't use euphemisms. They can handle it. They'll have to learn to handle it. This is the viewpoint of the jedis.)</p><p>"Oh, Dad, I'm so <em>sorry</em>," he wails. Dad's grip tightens on him.</p><p>"I'll make some more hot chocolate," Uncle Ani says, shooting a significant look at Obi-wan Kenobi over Ron's head.</p><p>"You're allowed to talk about your mother," Dad says, with a tired smile. "You're allowed to miss her. I still do. Even though it's against The Code."</p><p>Dad has never spoken of The Code as if it were anything other than divinely mandated before.</p><p>"Dad?" he asks. When did he talk about Mom? He shakes his head. That isn't important.</p><p>"It's my fault that she died. I'm so sorry."</p><p>He can feel his dad's sharp pain before it bleeds away into The Force.</p><p>"It isn't your fault, Ron," he says. "It's no one's fault. If anything, it's mine. I was the one who didn't kill Maul back on Naboo, and then—"</p><p>Dad shakes his head, but Ron sits up, gripping hard onto his Dad's jedi robes.</p><p>"No, Dad. I caused it! Me and The Daughter went back in time to save Uncle Ani, and we ended up killing <em>Mom</em>. I just wanted to get to know you, but now I've lost <em>her</em>."</p><p>"'The Daughter and I'," Dad corrects automatically. "Wait, who i—?"</p><p>"We're going to run out of hot chocolate at this rate. That would be a crying shame," Uncle Ani says, squeezing into the room.</p><p>Dad shoots him a glare.</p><p>"What, Obi-wan? Did I ruin the interrogation, or has the informant agreed to talk?"</p><p>He sets the tray with three cups of hot chocolate on the table, and hands one to Ron. Back in the Wizarding World, it would have been accompanied by the warning that it was hot. Here, thankfully, the Jedi Order expected even younglings to have that much common sense.</p><p>Uncle Ani tries to hand a cup to Obi-wan, but Dad is too busy at the moment. Uncle Ani takes it for himself, instead.</p><p>"Don't let me interrupt. You know where your cup is, if you want it,"</p><p>"Time travel, Ron? Everyone knows that's not possible," says Dad, rubbing at his beard with the hand not supporting Ron. Ron scoots back onto his bed, ashamed of his loss of control, and foists his shame off on The Force. It's good to have his ally back again.</p><p>He remembers not to mention time turners or the Wizarding World or the Ministry.</p><p>"It's true!" he insists. "Before we went back in time, Mom was alive, and you were some crazy hermit someplace called Tatooine."</p><p>Uncle Ani stills. The smile falls off his face. A familiar anger begins to brew, but he takes a deep breath, and the anger disperses. Ron knows what he's done. He's identified the emotion, acknowledged its cause, and decided that there's nothing to be done about that. Yet.</p><p>"Where've you heard about kriffing <em>Tatooine</em>?" Uncle Ani demands. There's still a bite to his voice. He's still angry. Tatooine is apparently a very big deal.</p><p>"Language!" Dad snaps. "I hope you don't use that language around your own kids."</p><p>"It—it's where Dad went to hide my cousin from The Emperor," Ron protests. <em>And Vader</em>, he adds silently. "That's all I know. Dad was living in someplace called the Jundan Ways—"</p><p>"Jundland Wastes," Uncle Ani corrects, gaze downcast and fury still rising up beneath the surface.</p><p>"Yeah, those. The Daughter said he knew Dad as a mad old hermit named Ben, but he lived in the future, and his uncle wouldn't let him talk to Dad, so we went back in time to tell Dad about me instead. Only, things got really bad. I was almost out of mind-vine when we went to The Emperor's office back when he was still the Supreme Chancellor, and saved Master Windu and some other people I don't remember from being killed. Uncle Ani was going to turn to The Dark Side, but I guess The Daughter managed to save him."</p><p>Uncle Ani drops his cup of hot chocolate, but manages to catch it with The Force before it can shatter or spill everywhere.</p><p>"Fierfek!" he says. "That was <em>real</em>?"</p><p>He remembers, Ron realises. He was never sure whether or not anyone would remember what happened. But, it seems that Uncle Ani does.</p><p>"You're not saying you <em>believe</em> this?" Dad asks, in his cool, analytical voice.</p><p>"You weren't <em>there</em>, Master," Uncle Ani protests. "I came to stop Master Windu from killing Palpatine, but there was a boy there who said he was my future son—I think he was about <em>my</em> age, when I came to The Temple—and then <em>Ron</em>, too. He said he was 'Aishi-Ron Kryze', and I knew right then he had to be your son, and then they both disappeared, but my son came back—he was so brave, and he helped protect the younglings during Order Sixty-Six. They're the reason Master Windu okayed our marriages and lifted that part of the ban on attachments. He saw what good could come of it. Kriff. I wish he were here. I never thought I'd say that, but Master Windu could confirm everything I've said. It's the only reason I knew to tell you about him at all, after Satine—"</p><p>Uncle Ani swallows and cuts himself off. Grief pours off his Dad in waves, a single mass of negative emotions such as Ron is used to seeing only from Uncle Ani, and then it snaps off.</p><p>"Dad?" he asks tentatively.</p><p>"Then—then if he <em>time traveled</em>, who raised him? Who trained him in the Force?"</p><p>Ron straightens up, borrowing some of his Kryze dignity. "Mom raised me. And 'Soka taught me to use The Force."</p><p>"Ahsoka Tano?" asks Uncle Ani. Raw pain leaks from behind his mental shields.</p><p>Ron nods. "She came over, sometimes, when Korkie could find her."</p><p>"<em>Korkie</em>?" Dad asks, and his shields slip again.</p><p>"But they're dead—" Anakin Skywalker says, turning to face Dad. "How—?"</p><p>He hasn't just killed his Mom. He's killed his cousin and his former master, too. He has to fix this, somehow. He and The Daughter.</p><p>"I can fix this," he promises. "I just need to know how it happened! Tell me how Mom died, and I can prevent it—!"</p><p>The man who in another universe became Darth Vader exchanges a sympathetic glance with his former master.</p><p>"If you don't tell him, I will," he promises, and Dad sighs and pinches his nose.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey!<br/>If you stare at this fic too long, plot holes will appear!<br/>...<br/>Pay attention to what the "back button" says!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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